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Penguins look to regroup after loss to New Jersey

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The Pittsburgh Penguins returned to practice today and the team gave their dues to the New Jersey Devils who ended the Penguins 7 game winning streak Saturday night.

Matt Cooke talked after practice how the Devils play a different style than anyone else in the league and indicated that Saturday night’s performance was the best game that the Devils played against Pittsburgh in the two years that he’s been apart of the Penguins organization.

The team held a halloween party Sunday night and some of that carried over to today’s practice.

Has the flu bug hit the Penguins?

Tyler Kennedy, Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis did not practice today. Kennedy and Kunitz were given a day off while Dupuis has the flu and may not practice tomorrow, according to a team official.

Starting Wednesday night against Montreal, Pittsburgh has three games in four days. Brent Johnson will start one of the back-to-back games this weekend, according to head coach Dan Bylsma.

*I’m told to look for Jordan Staal to see an increased role on the power play over the next month.

*The Penguins though did not work on their struggling power play today but will do so on Tuesday. Members of the power play had a 20 minute film session before practice.

*There’s some talk going around that Max Talbot has suffered a minor setback on his injured shoulder and will be somewhat limited this week in certain situations of his rehab process. Nothing to worry about though.

Around the NHL

*The Tampa Bay Lightning are losing money by the day and speculation is already starting that Ryan Malone and Martin St. Louis will be shopped in the coming months.

Marty St. Louis has a no trade clause and is believed to only be interested in joining the New York Rangers. His wife is from the area and St. Louis would jump at the chance to play with John Tortorella again.

*Ilya Kovalchuk, the Thrashers’ captain is expected to miss three to five weeks with a broken bone in his right foot, the team announced on Monday.

*The New York Rangers ended their two game losing streak Monday night beating the Phoenix Coyotes 5-2. Marian Gaborik scored two goals and added an assist in the win but left the game in the third period with an injury. Gaborik has 10 goals and 8 assists in 12 games.

*Phoenix Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes has agreed to sell the bankrupt franchise to the NHL. The agreement, which still must be approved by Judge Redfield T. Baum, was announced in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Monday after attorneys met for more than an hour during a recess in a status hearing on the case.

Former coach Wayne Gretzky, who has a $22.5 million claim in the case, has not agreed to the deal.

Trade Buzz: Thursday’s 1-for-1 trade of young underperforming players saw the Minnesota Wild acquire center Victor Rask from the Carolina Hurricanes for left winger Nino Niederreiter. Carolina did an excellent job of being able to get out of the Rask contract, who has three years remaining with a $4 million cap hit. Rask has 1 goal, 5 assists on the season, mirrored in a 22-game goal drought. The logic here for Minnesota is taking the chance on a playmaking center who can help fill a top-9 spot longer term if the Wild move on from Eric Staal. Minnesota is also playing the card that a change of scenery will benefit the 24-year old who posted a career-high 21 goals, 48 points in 2015-2016.

Niederreiter’s trade value was stunted because of his contract, where he has three years left on his deal with a $5.25 million cap hit. Niederreiter is a player who is extremely hard to play against, drives possession well, and has three 20 goal seasons over his last four full seasons. Injuries (18 goals in 63 games) kept him from a 4th straight 20-goal season in 17-18. The Niederreiter acquisition also sets up as great insurance for the Hurricanes if they can’t resign Micheal Ferland. In the short-term, Carolina’s center situation is a mess with Jordan Staal sidelined with a concussion, but they’re getting the better player who fits the identity they’re trying to establish upfront, especially on the wings where they’ve identified the need for Patric Hornqvist type players.